The ASU football team has been through a lot in the past month, will Todd Graham's firing and all the upheaval that followed prove a distraction or provide motivation in Friday's Sun Bowl?
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The first big hire under ASU football coach Herm Edwards came Friday when it was learned that the school planned to name San Diego State's Danny Gonzales as defensive coordinator.
Thomas Hawthorne/ azcentral sports

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ASU football recruiting and end of Cardinals era | 2:26

Herm Edwards is doing his best to placate anxious ASU football fans, but their concerns are real. And should Cardinals fans be prepared for Sunday to be the final game for Larry Fitzgerald and the Honey Badger? Dan Bickley and JJ Hensley discuss.
Thomas Hawthorne/ azcentral sports

Former NFL head coach Herm Edwards is about to bring his football enthusiasm to the desert.

Arizona State on Sunday night officially announced Edwards as its new head football coach, the centerpiece of a restructured program model that the Sun Devils hope lifts them to greater heights. The Arizona Board of Regents still has to approve the hire.

Edwards, 63, becomes the first African American head football coach in school history. He will lead the "New Leadership Model," which will take an NFL approach using a general-manager structure.

"Our goal for this football program is to reach unprecedented heights, and therefore we need to find a way to operate more innovatively and efficiently than we have in the past," Vice President of Athletics Ray Anderson said in a statement.

"In the spirit of innovation, our vision for this program is to have a head coach who serves as a CEO and is the central leader with a collaborative staff around him that will elevate the performance of players and coaches on the field, in the classroom and in our community. Equally important, the head coach will be a dynamic and tireless recruiter."

Since 2009, Edwards has worked at ESPN as an NFL analyst, meaning he has not coached in a decade. He hasn't coached in college in nearly three.

Even so, Edwards has a rich football background and a personality that demands attention.

As a player, Edwards spent eight years in the NFL, nearly all with the Philadelphia Eagles. He is best remembered for the 1978 “Miracle in the Meadowlands,” a play in which he scooped a fumble in the final seconds and returned it for a touchdown to stun the New York Giants.

As a coach, Edwards worked under Marty Schottenheimer with the Kansas City Chiefs and under Tony Dungy in Tampa Bay. In 2001, he was named head coach of the New York Jets, where he went 39-41 over five seasons, making the playoffs three times.

In 2006, Edwards, a defensive-minded coach, took over the Kansas City Chiefs but he wasn't there long. After taking the Chiefs to the playoffs his first season, he went 6-26 over the next two – the worst-two year stretch in team history – and was fired.

"Passion for my faith, my family and my occupation as a football coach are the things that have driven me back to the grass," Edwards said in a statement. "My personal commitment to build young men to be whole people through the game of football is completely in alignment with the vision President Michael Crow and Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson have for this program. I stand ready for the challenge of working with them to elevate Sun Devil Football. I am very excited and humbled to be the Arizona State head football coach."

Anderson likely will expect Edwards to win right away. Upon dismissing Graham, he laid out lofty program standards: Top three in the Pac-12 and Top 15 nationally. For continuity, several assistant coaches are expected to stay and join Edwards' staff.

Anderson has history with Edwards. During his days as an agent, he represented Edwards during the coach's NFL days.

"During my years with and around the NFL, there is not a more respected man that has the passion for the game of football like that of Herm Edwards," Anderson said. "I have no doubt his ability to lead, inspire and develop young men will translate into his staff and into recruiting, and I'm confident he is the visionary and leader we need to command this new ASU football model."

Dec 29, 2017: North Carolina State Wolfpack running back Nyheim Hines (7) runs the ball in for a touchdown against the Arizona State Sun Devils defense in the 2017 Sun Bowl at Sun Bowl Stadium.
Ivan Pierre Aguirre/USA TODAY Sports

Dec 29, 2017: Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Todd Graham looks at his during warmups before facing the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the 2017 Sun Bowl at Sun Bowl Stadium.
Ivan Pierre Aguirre/USA TODAY Sports

Dec 29, 2017: North Carolina State Wolfpack running back Nyheim Hines (7) runs the ball in for a touchdown against the Arizona State Sun Devils defense in the 2017 Sun Bowl at Sun Bowl Stadium.
Ivan Pierre Aguirre/USA TODAY Sports

Dec 29, 2017: Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Todd Graham looks at his during warmups before facing the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the 2017 Sun Bowl at Sun Bowl Stadium.
Ivan Pierre Aguirre/USA TODAY Sports

Arizona State wide receiver N’Keal Harry lifts Pearla Ortega, 5, of Van Horn, for a photo during a team visit Tuesday to El Paso Children’s Hospital. The Sun Devils handed out signed caps and other items to many young patients. North Carolina State players visited The Hospitals of Providence Children's Hospital on Tuesday afternoon. The two teams will meet in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday. To read a profile on Harry, see Page B1. For more photos from the teams’ activities Tuesday, visit elpasotimes.com.
RUDY GUTIERREZ/EL PASO TIMES

Phoebe Bautista is greeted by North Carolina State defensive end Bradley Chubb during a team visit Tuesday to The Hospitals of Providence Children’s Hospital. Arizona State players visited El Paso Children’s Hospital on Tuesday afternoon. The two teams will meet in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday. For more on Chubb, see Page B1.
RUDY GUTIERREZ/EL PASO TIMES

Arizona State head football coach Todd Graham dances with a folklorico dancer after ASU arrived at El Paso International Airport on Monday, December 25, 2017. ASU plays North Carolina State in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, December 29, 2017.
Mark Lambie/El Paso Times

Arizona State head football coach Todd Graham dances with a folklorico dancer after ASU arrived at El Paso International Airport on Monday, December 25, 2017. ASU plays North Carolina State in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, December 29, 2017.
Mark Lambie/El Paso Times

Hyundai Sun Bowl sponsor and former El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser greets Arizona State football players as ASU arrives at El Paso International Airport on Monday, December 25, 2017. ASU plays North Carolina State in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, December 29, 2017.
Mark Lambie/El Paso Times

Arizona State head football coach Todd Graham dances with a folklorico dancer after ASU arrived at El Paso International Airport on Monday, December 25, 2017. ASU plays North Carolina State in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, December 29, 2017.
Mark Lambie/El Paso Times

ASU defensive lineman Tashon Smallwood arrives with the team at El Paso International Airport on Monday, December 25, 2017. ASU plays North Carolina State in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, December 29, 2017.
Mark Lambie/El Paso Times

Arizona State linebacker Khaylan Thomas dances with folklorico dancers after ASU arrived at El Paso International Airport on Monday, December 25, 2017. ASU plays North Carolina State in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, December 29, 2017.
Mark Lambie/El Paso Times

Arizona State football players arrive at El Paso International Airport on Monday, December 25, 2017. ASU plays North Carolina State in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, December 29, 2017.
Mark Lambie/El Paso Times

Arizona State football players arrive at El Paso International Airport on Monday, December 25, 2017. ASU plays North Carolina State in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, December 29, 2017.
Mark Lambie/El Paso Times

Folklorico dancers perform inside the Atlantic Aviation hangar at the El Paso International Airport for the Arizona State football team on Monday, December 25, 2017. ASU plays North Carolina State in the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Friday, December 29, 2017.
Mark Lambie/El Paso Times